


The Last One

by BardofHeartDive



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Dogs, Fluff, M/M, Multi, OT3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-01-09 03:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12268155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardofHeartDive/pseuds/BardofHeartDive
Summary: James' only flaw is that his heart huge. And he loves dogs.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bioticfox (ayambik)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayambik/gifts).



> This is a gift for the lovely Foxy, who has gotten me through so many low points and rough times with her love of mShenga. It's always nice to have someone (especially someone so awesome) to keep me company in Rare Pair Hell.

The first one is a border collie mix with extensive scarring on the left side of her face and shoulder. Neither John nor Kaidan bat an eye. James has been talking about adopting a dog since he started volunteering at the shelter and, as he says, the three of them know a thing or two about scars. Before the end of the week it’s like Daisy has always been part of their lives.

* * *

Rambo is next, a pug whose two back legs were paralyzed after a fall. James asks for some of Kaidan’s old tech equipment and disappears into the shed. There’s a crash an hour later and Kaidan finds James buried in a pile of bars and pipes and wires and wheels and what looks suspiciously like blueprints for some kind of doggie mobility device. What little he had managed to solder together falls apart when Kaidan gives it too heavy a look. James looks defeated but Kaidan falls in next to him at the workbench - “It helps when you match the temperature of the solder to the metal you’re using” - and he has to admit things go much smoother with two pairs of hands. The prototype has more than a few kinks but after a month of tinkering and a few surprisingly insightful conversations with John’s physical therapist, Rambo is outrunning Daisy in the orchard.

* * *

It’s just the five of them for a year and then James comes home with Simon, a toy poodle, and Garfunkel, a mutt with the height of a great Dane and the build of a St. Bernard. John and Kaidan exchange glances and gently suggest that they keep one or the other but James protests.

“We can’t split them up, Loco, Blue. That’s why it has to be us.”

He goes on to explain that the pair was rescued from a disaster zone in northern Washington. They were found together and initially separated, only to find that Garfunkel had extreme anxiety when he was alone. During their time together, Simon had become his therapy dog, for lack of a better term. As long as they were together Garfunkel was an adorable 110 kilogram teddy bear but finding potential owners willing to take two dogs, let alone one his size, had been impossible so far. The shelter had turned down two families for Simon and was starting to discuss options if a home for both wasn’t found. Kaidan shakes his head; John just sighs. How can they say no to those puppy-dog eyes, though neither is referring to the dogs.

“But this is the last one,” they stipulate. “Don’t bring any more home.”

* * *

True to his word, James does not bring Lady home. He brings John and Kaidan to the shelter. He walks them past kennel after kennel - enough to break their hearts - until they come to a German Shepard with a graying muzzle. She is lying on a blanket on the concrete but when they stop, she gets to her feet slowly and approaches the chainlink. She wags her tail while James explains that she has cancer and the vet has given her about 2 months.

“She deserves to spend it somewhere with grass,” he says, but the other two are already halfway through the adoption forms on Kaidan’s omni.

* * *

Much as John is loath to admit Orion is his fault, not James’s. He will always be Commander Shepard, after all, and even though he’s finally learning to say no to the galaxy as a whole, he still can’t turn down his crew when they need him. So when it turns out both Sylvia and Sofia Traynor are legitimately allergic to the Labrador retriever in the yard with the white picket fence, who else would they ask to take him in?

Kaidan looks like he might have a conniption but James is ecstatic. The new addition to the family gets extra attention, mostly in the form of belly rubs and sneaked treats. A week later when the girls come to visit Orion is curled up under Kaidan’s chair.

* * *

Lady dies and the whole of the Shepard-Alenko-Vega household mourns, two-legged and four-legged alike. They bury her in the orchard with Wishbone, Benji, and Rin-Tin-Tin, the Alenkos’ cats. The “service” consists of a story or two and a few choruses of the Peanuts’ theme song, followed by a three-man, five-dog game of fetch.

At least once a week for the next month John or Kaidan comes home to find James asleep on the couch with at least three of the dogs. Usually there’s a copy of Homeward Bound or Hachi or some similar movie and half a box worth of used tissues around him.

John shuts off starting menu for Old Yeller while Kaidan throws away the empty take-out containers giving Orion a gentle pat on the head as he passes. Garfunkel, curled up around Simon and Rambo, looks up and gives a quiet huff at the two of them. Daisy makes a sound that’s not quite a whine but James mutters in his sleep and she quiets immediately.

“Not yet,” Kaidan starts, “But maybe soon I was thinking . . . ”

John nods, “But that’s the last one.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue chapter added after Foxy found [this fantasic piece of art](http://damnnateyou-blog.tumblr.com/post/69690048798) on tumblr.

John doesn't think the world is different after the war, people just notice more. The sky isn't bluer, roses aren't sweeter, people aren't kinder, you just pay more attention. If that's true James has always had a way with animals, John just never appreciated it before. Now that the war is over it's one of his favorite things. 

Even with their own houseful of dogs, James loves volunteering at the shelter. He is an endless source of walks and pets and belly-rubs. He does obedience training, especially with the bigger breeds that people tend to be afraid of, and resocializing work for pets coming from abusive homes. John loves hearing stories about the first time Tatertot, a deaf pitbull, responded to the signed commands or how Fizzy is finally starting not to tuck her tail at the sight of strangers, but getting to see him working with the animals is even better.

So even though it's nearly twenty minutes after they were supposed to go for lunch and James is still in the fenced outdoor area with half a dozen dogs of all sizes and breeds, John just stands in the doorway watching him. Kaidan hasn't arrived yet, anyway; there's no reason to interrupt playtime.

As if summoned by the thought, Kaidan appears from the  hall. His expression is neutral now but the creases on his face tell John he's been scowling the better part of the day. Valern must be at it again.

"Bad day?" John asks.

"Not anymore," Kaidan answers, giving the older of his husbands a kiss. "James still out with the pack?" 

"You know it. Can we give him a minute or two?"

"I was thinking at least five." 

John chuckles and snuggles in next to him and they watch James play tug-of-war with an incredibly determined toy poodle. Eventually, despite a valiant effort on his part, the dog wins and trots off with the rope toy.

Kaidan sees it first but, after all their time on the battlefield together, John knows how to read his body language and is only a heartbeat behind him. A streak of ruddy brown is barreling toward James, mouth open, tongue lolling out between huge, wicked-sharp fangs. For one terrifying moment all John can think about Ashley firing at the rabid alpha varren until her gun overheated without so much as fazing it, then he and Thane and Mordin surrounded by a vicious, snarling pack trying to evacuate a wounded quarian.

He's about to yell a warning, all he can do unarmed as he is, when James says something. John doesn't understand the word itself - he thinks it might be krogan - but he recognizes the tone from James's obedience classes. The varren instantly stops and drops its behind to the ground, sitting like a dog. It watches James eagerly but doesn't move until he pats his chest. Then it stands up on its hind legs, its front paws resting on James's hips for balance. Its tail wags at a mile a minute while James scratches its jaw, showering it was praise and affection.

"You know," John starts, "we agreed no more dogs. That is clearly not a dog."

Kaidan raises an eyebrow and tries to look irritated. It would be a lot more convincing if John couldn't see the twitch at the corner of his mouth where he's trying not to smile.


End file.
